Really Turn Left
by JunoInferno
Summary: Donna struggles in an increasingly hopeless world as she raises her baby and gets repeated visits from a mysterious blonde. Yes, that was the best title I could come up with.


Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Doctor, Donna or Rose or the things I borrowed from Russell T Davies. This story was a notion that occurred to me as I was writing Regarding Mrs. Smith, basically how the events of Series Four would have played out differently if Donna had been married to the Doctor and in fact, pregnant and how Turn Left might have been different. I decided the Ginger Time Baby would be along for the ride, but could never make it work in the story for a few reasons. Maybe this is a giant plot hole, but that episode is really fraught with plot holes, no offense. I mean, I went along with it. I even borrowed a good chunk of it. Turn Left spoilers, did I need to say that? So, would love to hear what you think. Thanks for reading and there will be more cheerful tales of Ginger Time Babies very soon forthcoming.

Donna Noble turned right.

The next morning she woke up feeling rotten and then flew to the toilet and puked. She was alright later and well enough to start her new job. But it continued, day after day.

"Three months pregnant!," she shouted. "How can I be three months pregnant!"

The doctor looked at Donna as if that was a stupid question, which she supposed it was. Donna couldn't remember having sex three months ago and given the very unlikely possibility that she was giving birth to the Lord, that left one option that she had sex, gotten pregnant and didn't remember it for one reason or other. Had she been drunk? Had she been drugged?

Well, Donna was not about to walk into her parents' house and say that she couldn't remember getting pregnant, that would just be too shaming. She didn't want to get rid of it, it wasn't the baby's fault and besides, she just had this deep seated feeling that she wanted her.

Had she just thought of the baby as a her?

Christmas Eve. Donna was due any day and it was a good thing, too. Donna had been having dreams about a ginger girl who ran up and talked to her and called her "Mummy." They had terrified her at first, but she soon got used to them.

What she couldn't get used to were the dreams about the tall, thin man. They never came on full, just pieces: a pinstripe jacket, a Chuck Taylor trainer, ridiculous brown hair, gorgeous brown eyes and snippets of speech: "Allons-y!", "Molto Bene" and most unbelievably, "Donna Noble, you are brilliant!"

So, there she was, Christmas Eve with her mum, dad and gramps. She was all settled in for a nice night of telly and sneaking Jelly Babies- sudden craving for those, pregnancy thing she supposed- when Sylvia began on how fitting it was to have an unwed mother in their home on Christmas Eve. Donna tried to let it go since she wasn't feeling that well, her back had been aching all day, but Sylvia wouldn't let up. Geoff and Wilf tried to come to her defense, but there was no helping it. Hounded by her mother, Donna threw on her coat and left the house and went for a walk.

She walked far, really far, much further than a woman who was about to have a baby should have alone. She ended up by H.C. Clements, the firm she had almost taken the job at, and there was something going on. She saw a man in a red beret talking on a radio.

"He's dead, sir, the Doctor's dead."

Donna watched as a stretcher was loaded into an ambulance and a long, bony hand fell out from under a sheet. Something fell on the ground and Donna got this sick feeling she couldn't explain.

She turned around to leave and ran into a blonde.

"What happened? What did they find? I'm sorry, but did they find someone?"

"I don't know. Bloke called the Doctor or something."

"Where is he?"

"They took him away, he's dead."

The woman didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, did you know him? Could have been anyone, they didn't say his name."

"I came so far," said the woman. She looked at Donna's huge stomach. Great, thought Donna, grief stricken and still distracted by how fat I am. Then she realized the woman was now staring at Donna's back. "What's your name?"

"Donna. And you?"

"I'm just passing by..."

"Why do you keep staring at my back? Is there something on my back?" Donna groaned, it was a contraction. "Oh, God..."

Donna looked up to see the woman was gone.

Yeah, that was polite.

Donna made her way back to the barricade area to ask for help. The soldiers in red caps were nice enough, even if they were busy. One called Ross drove her to hospital and saw that Donna was settled before he left. Then Donna got to begin the fun of childbirth on her own. The nurse asked if she wanted to call anyone, but Donna was not about to listen to her mother harangue her and the thought of her father or grandfather being here was just too mortifying. In the end, the doctor called a nice medical student, Martha Jones, to come sit with Donna.

"You have got to have better things to do than just sitting with me," said Donna.

"No, it's fine," said Martha, "I still need to assist on a birth before I finish my rotation. I don't mind at all."

"Still," said Donna, "Christmas Eve. You must have family."

"My family's a little... volatile right now," said Martha.

"Know the feeling," said Donna and she would have actually smiled, if not for another contraction. She screamed.

"Just try to breathe through it, Donna," said Martha.

"I AM BREATHING!," shouted Donna.

Donna struggled through the next few hours, really wishing she had someone. Martha was doing her best, but it wasn't really the same as having a partner there to hold your hand.

Finally, the baby came out.

She wasn't crying, though. Donna tried to peer over Martha and the other doctors to see what was going on. After what seemed like forever, she opened her eyes and began to cry. Martha cleaned her up and handed her over to Donna.

She was gorgeous. The whole ginger thing worked for her. Donna counted her fingers and toes then got caught up staring into her eyes. They were brown. So were the eyes in her dreams, the same gorgeous brown eyes.

Martha was visiting again just before Donna went home. She did the usual checkups, then commented that Zara seemed to have a lower body temperature than the average person. She tried to reassure Donna that it happened sometimes and was fine. Then she stopped and listened to the baby's heart. It seemed like it was confusing her or something, then she shook her head and handed the baby back to Donna.

"Have you decided what to call her?," asked Martha.

"Zara."

Donna went home with Zara and settled into a routine. She had a few months maternity leave, but had to go back to work. Geoff and Wilf took turns watching her in between sitters, Donna couldn't stand the idea of leaving her alone with Sylvia. She found herself really jealous of all those mums who got to stay home with their babies all day, but she was a single mum, she had to work.

Then her dad died. It was so sudden. He was at home with Zara, Wilf and Sylvia, then all of a sudden...

Then Mr. Chowdry had the nerve to go and sack her! He said business was slow since the Thames was still closed off and besides that Donna had seemed a little unfocused on her work. Well, sorry! She had a baby and her dad died! He tried arguing with her over times she said she had to leave because of Zara, claiming no baby crawls that early. Well, someone had to set the bar, didn't they? She had to leave, Zara was crawling at five months and her sitter was flipping out!

She went home and broke the news to her family. Sylvia seemed beyond caring and Wilf was all distracted by that hospital disappearing on the news. Donna sat and nursed Zara. Zara loved her, she had such an easy nature about her, she sure didn't get it from Donna. The telly only caught Donna's attention when the presenter said that nice Martha Jones had died.

Donna packed Zara up in her pram and went to get chips with the last of her wages. Donna pushed the pram up the street and saw flashes of light, then a woman running into the street.

"Are you alright?," asked Donna. "Was that fireworks or...?"

Donna then realized it was the woman from Christmas Eve.

"Wooh. I dunno. I was just walking along. Weird."

"You're the one. Christmas Eve, I met you in town."

Zara cooed, Donna pulled the pram back closer to her as the woman peered inside.

"Right, Donna, wasn't it?" The woman looked at Zara.

"What was your name again?," asked Donna.

"Well, bit of a coincidence," said the woman. She stood straight up to look at Donna. "Gorgeous baby. Great eyes."

"You're doing it again."

"What?"

"Looking behind my back! Everybody looks behind my back, then I get home and there's nothing there! What is it?"

"What sort of people?"

"People on the street, strangers, I don't know..." Donna thought she could hear a hissing. She thought she could almost reach whatever it was. "Do you see? Now I'm doing it!"

"What are you doing for Christmas?"

"What am I what?"

"Next Christmas. Any plans?"

"I don't know. That's ages away."

"You should get out of town. Don't stay in London. You and your family, just leave the city."

"What for?"

"Nice hotel. Christmas break."

"Can't afford it."

"But you have the raffle ticket."

"How do you know about that?"

"First prize. Luxury weekend break. Use it, Donna Noble."

"Why won't you tell me your name?," asked Donna.

The woman didn't answer. Donna tightened her grip on the pram. "I think you should leave me alone."

Donna pushed the pram past the woman.

Christmas Day. Donna woke up early with Zara as her mum and grandad slept in the luxury suite they had all crammed into.

"Merry Christmas, Zara," she whispered, "and Happy Birthday."

"Mummy," said Zara.

She nursed her and then her family woke up and Donna started making plans for the day. Then the room service waitress came in and started shouting things at Donna. Then the Titanic crashed into Buckingham Palace.

She held Zara in the garden as she stood with the others watching the mushroom cloud over London. Zara pointed at it and looked back at Donna worried.

"I know, sweetheart. I know. Shh..." She kissed her on the top of the head and tried not to let her baby know how upset she was.

Well, it had come to this.

Donna was sharing a cot in a kitchen with her baby. In Leeds no less. Not that Zara seemed to mind, she gripped tightly onto Donna like a baby gorilla as she slept. Zara didn't seem to mind any of it, the Colasantos doted on her, more than compensating for Sylvia's barely noticing her as she slipped further and further away. Besides, Donna was her whole world and that amazed Donna, how this little girl could have so much faith in her. It made Donna try even after her mother gave up. She looked for work, she took odd jobs, anything she could do for Zara.

But she didn't find permanent work, not the next day or the day after. She just stared at Zara, wondering what the hell she was going to do. She couldn't let her live like this with a worthless mother who didn't even know who her dad was who was probably dead...

And she lost it. Donna just started bawling as she clutched onto Zara.

"Mummy no cry," said Zara.

"Oh, Mummy will cry," sniffled Donna, "but thank you, though."

Then she heard gunshots. She put Zara down as she rushed out along with her gramps and Mr. Colasanto.

The soldiers were shooting at their cars! And the air was filled with some kind of gas. They explained it was the ATMOS device and Donna turned to see Zara toddling out the front door. She turned to grab her and one of the soldiers, flipped out and started pointing his rifle at Donna, saying something was on her back. Wilf and Mr. Colasanto managed to calm him down, but Donna was still shaking. At the end of it, Donna looked up to see the familiar flash of white light at the top of the hill and carried Zara up as she saw the blonde woman.

The woman explained that the ATMOS devices were poisoning the sky. There was a band of fighters who Donna had never heard up on the Sontaran ship. Then a fire ripped across the sky and Donna held Zara against her.

"Stars!," Zara said, pointing at the now clear night's sky.

"None of this was meant to happen," said the woman. "There was a man. This wonderful man. And he stopped them. The Titanic, the Adipose, the ATMOS, he stopped them all from happening."

"That...Doctor?"

"Yeah."

"Who was he?"

"You knew him?"

"Did I? When?"

"I think you dream of him, sometimes. Man in a suit. Tall, thin man," she smiled. "Great hair. He had this really great hair."

The woman was right. Donna had dreamt of it, back around the time she had gotten pregnant with Zara. "Who are you?," she asked.

"I was like you. I used to be you. Cos you travelled with him, Donna, you travelled with the Doctor. In a different world."

"But I never met him. And he's dead."

"He died underneath the Thames on Christmas Eve. But you were meant to be there. He needed someone to stop him, and that was you. You made him leave, you saved his life-"

"Stop it!," shouted Donna ash she stood up with Zara. "I don't know what you're talking about! Leave me alone!"

"Something is coming, Donna. Something worse."

"The world is stinking! How can there be anything worse?"

"Trust me. We need the Doctor, more than ever. I've been pulled across from a different universe, because every single universe is in danger. It's coming, Donna. It's coming, from across the stars, and nothing can stop it."

"What is?"

"The darkness."

"Well, what do you keep telling me for? I'm just a temp, I'm not even that, I'm nothing!"

"You're the most important woman in the whole of creation."

Donna shook her head. "I'm just tired, okay, I'm just tired."

"Donna, you need to come with me."

"Maybe that works on men, blondie, but you're not shifting me. I can't change the world, I can't do anything, I need to take care of my daughter, that is the only thing I need to do, so just leave me alone."

Donna started back down the hill carrying Zara.

"You'll come with me when you're ready, then!"

"You'll have a long wait, then!," Donna shouted back.

"Just three weeks!"

"Then what?," spat Donna. She looked back to see the woman vanish. She sighed and looked at Zara. "That girl is trouble."

"Trouble," agreed Zara.

"Come on, let's get you to bed."

It was three weeks later, not long after that terrible day when the Colasantos were taken to God knows where. Donna took Zara to the clinic, she'd had to wait months for an appointment and the girl was who knew how far behind on her inoculations. She had thought the NHS had been bad before, she was mistaken. She sat waiting for hours until her name was called. She took Zara in.

Then it all went horribly wrong.

It had been normal enough, she had taken Zara in, they had started examining her and the nurse had called her out to do some paperwork. Then the paperwork just kept going on and on. Then all of a sudden another doctor appeared and started asking questions about Zara. When did she start, crawling, walking, talking, making eye contact? Who was her father?

"What's this all about?," asked Donna.

"We're just trying to get some background information, Ms. Noble."

"What do you need to know for?"

Then Donna heard Zara screaming. A horrible scream, an awful, primal scream. She leapt out of her chair and past the doctor when she was suddenly grabbed by two soldiers. She fought off one of them and dragged the other one far enough to see Zara being carried out by a soldier in a red cap. Her little face was red and stained with tears as she reached out for Donna. Donna tried pushing past the other one as she screamed and shouted for her and for anyone who knew what was good for them to get the hell out of her way. Donna watched as they loaded her into a Land Rover and Zara beat her tiny hands against the window.

"Where is she going? Where are you taking my baby?," screamed Donna.

They waited and eventually even Donna stopped screaming. Her voice was nearly gone, her throat was sore and the nurse snuck up to her as the soldiers left.

"Your baby. They took her away because she had two hearts."

Before Donna could ask what the hell that meant, the nurse was gone. Donna finally stepped out of the clinic, defeated. It was night already. She looked up at the stars and wondered if Zara could see them where she was. She loved that.

Then she turned around to see the mysterious blonde.

"I'm ready," she said.

They got rushed into a jeep and taken off to a warehouse somewhere. The woman, who apparently, wouldn't tell her name to anyone started out showing her a police box. Which was weird because it was bigger on the inside and they had torn out wires and panels and everything, but Donna got a flash of it.

She explained that the box belonged to the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords.

"But if he was so special, what was he doing with me?," asked Donna.

"He thought you were brilliant," said the woman.

"Don't be stupid."

"But you are. It just took the Doctor to show you that. Simply  
>by being with him. He did the same to me, to everyone he touches."<p>

"Were you and him...?"

She didn't answer, just gave a wan smile.

Donna cleared her throat. "My daughter. Do you know where they've taken her?"

"Taken her?" She shook her head, confused.

"Three weeks, though, you said I'd be ready and they took her today and I'm ready."

"I didn't mean that, I'm sorry. I meant the stars going out."

"You want me to help, you get someone to tell me where she is."

"I'm sorry, Donna, but there's more important things than one little girl right now."

"Not to me!," shouted Donna and then a spark came out of one of the ravaged panels of the phone box. It seemed to take the woman by surprise.

"Why did they take her away?," asked the blonde, looking around the scattered innards of the phone box with suspicion.

"They said she has two hearts and they needed to study her-"

Donna looked back up to see the blonde looking as if someone had punched her in the gut, some sort of realization dawning on her.

"What?," demanded Donna. "What did I say?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "Nothing."

"I said she had two hearts and that seemed to mean something to you."

The box hummed and sounded like it was gasping for breath. The woman looked at Donna's back as if she was trying to change the subject.

"Do you want to see it?," she asked.

They set Donna in front of a series of mirrors and showed her what appeared to be a giant beetle on her back. Then the whole thing started happening in fast forward and Donna was put in an old jacket with wires on it and the blonde was saying she was going to die and didn't know what would happen to Zara and there was a flash of light and constantly "Turn Left"...

"Donna?," asked the Doctor. "Donna?"

Donna opened her eyes to see the bright lights of the TARDIS clinic. The Doctor let out a huge breath as she made eye contact with him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Are we at Shan Shen?," asked Donna.

"No, no, we're in the TARDIS and the TARDIS is in New New York. Don't you remember?"

"Where's Zara?," Donna asked, bolting up.

The Doctor moved his hands to steady her. "She's fine. See?"

Donna looked across to see Zara sitting in her pram, still dressed for her day at the park.

"Mummy," said Zara.

"Yes, Zara, Mummy's all better. Nothing to worry about," said the Doctor.

"I need to hold her," said Donna.

Without speaking, the Doctor plucked Zara and put her in Donna's waiting arms. Donna held on to her tightly and started sobbing.

"We were in the park?," asked the Doctor. "You got into an argument with that Cheshire woman?"

Donna scoffed. "Her kittens were bullies."

"Then you were unconscious. I brought you both back here. The baby has some elevated brain waves, nothing to worry about, just came on a bit quickly."

"The universe with the Time Beetle, I remembered it." She brought Zara even closer. "Zara was there and they took her away from me and I couldn't stop them..."

"Shh..." said the Doctor, taking both of them into one of his big hugs. "That universe isn't real, the baby must have just unlocked the memory. Normal human being, it would have collapsed long ago."

"Lucky me," snorted Donna. She looked at Zara. "Can she remember it? Is it some Time Lord thing? Oh, God, tell me she doesn't remember it."

"Probably not, Donna, it's hard to remember alternate universes from when you were a fetus."

"But if I never met you, why was she there?"

"Well, if you never met me, what was the beetle there for? Same thing, she was along for the ride." The Doctor stepped back. "How about a nice cuppa? That ought to set you right."

The Doctor started out.

"By the way," said Donna, still holding Zara, "if I see Rose again, I'm slapping her. She left out some really important details."

The Doctor smiled. "There! You're feeling better already!"


End file.
